You are welcome. Mark (Stryker2011) sometimes gets a hold of the announcements before the products appear for preorder in the usual major retailers, but they usually show up on their sites within days.

I realllly love the outfit on this one, it’s awesome! The headsculpt is cool for what it is (I like the cheeky smirk), though I’d probably swap it out with something a bit more realistic. Likewise, the horse, while perhaps better than some, is nowhere near Mr.Z level, so I’d use one of the ‘Hanoverians’ instead.

(Speaking hypothetically here, as there’s no way I could afford this or anything like it at this time. ;p )

_________________

"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."

Focusing on the Prequels, Clone Wars, and Original Trilogy eras (NO 'sequels', thanks!)

skywalkersaga wrote:I realllly love the outfit on this one, it’s awesome! The headsculpt is cool for what it is (I like the cheeky smirk), though I’d probably swap it out with something a bit more realistic. Likewise, the horse, while perhaps better than some, is nowhere near Mr.Z level, so I’d use one of the ‘Hanoverians’ instead.

(Speaking hypothetically here, as there’s no way I could afford this or anything like it at this time. ;p )

I agree, the headsculpt is too cartoony for my taste as well. But everything else is exactly what I've been looking for.

I was originally going to get the deluxe version for the horse, but may consider the Mr. Z horse models now that you mentioned it. My concern is that if I went with a different company's horse, the accessories that come with it would not work with this figure. I also see that this horse does not have as much detail and the life-like hair that that Z models have. But aside from that, do you have any recommendations on a realistic horse with more bags/gear on the saddle? I am looking for more of an Asian aesthetic fyi. If you know of any recommendations, please do share. Thank you!

Edit: Still not able to locate any U.S. vendors that has it for pre-order. I may order direct from China/HK if that is the case, I suspect it may also be quicker and safer since the package does not need to travel to the U.S. distributor - > vendor - then to me. Does anyone have experience buying direct from China/HK? Any custom confiscating issues? I heard sometimes they confiscate the swords/weapons? Any issues with damaged products? Please share your experience from buying overseas to the U.S. Also open to knowing what are everyone's top choices for ordering from the U.S. as well! Thanks!

rain89c wrote:I agree, the headsculpt is too cartoony for my taste as well. But everything else is exactly what I've been looking for.

I was originally going to get the deluxe version for the horse, but may consider the Mr. Z horse models now that you mentioned it. My concern is that if I went with a different company's horse, the accessories that come with it would not work with this figure. I also see that this horse does not have as much detail and the life-like hair that that Z models have. But aside from that, do you have any recommendations on a realistic horse with more bags/gear on the saddle? I am looking for more of an Asian aesthetic fyi. If you know of any recommendations, please do share. Thank you!

Edit: Still not able to locate any U.S. vendors that has it for pre-order. I may order direct from China/HK if that is the case, I suspect it may also be quicker and safer since the package does not need to travel to the U.S. distributor - > vendor - then to me. Does anyone have experience buying direct from China/HK? Any custom confiscating issues? I heard sometimes they confiscate the swords/weapons? Any issues with damaged products? Please share your experience from buying overseas to the U.S.

I can't advise you on the horse (except confirm that the Mr Z Hanoverian is great -- search the website for a brief review); the only one I have with Asian-style stuff on it, is this articulated White Dragon Horse from Journey to the West by Inflames:

As for the rest, if you don't want to wait to use a US vendor, you should have no problem with (for example) OneSixthKit or GianToy, or look for any eBay seller with a high feedback rating (above 99%) -- OneSixthKit and GianToy are on eBay too, although there the products might cost a little more due to fees; pay with PayPal for extra protection, whatever option you use. I haven't had any issues with either, and on the very rare occasions where I've had an issue with eBay, they have been responsive and helpful. With pre-orders you might encounter all sorts of delays, and with eBay you lose ability to leave feedback, contest a case after 6 months (if memory serves), but you would still be able to get your money back (if you don't get your stuff) through PayPal even after 6 months. It is still a good idea to go with reputable sellers.

I agree, the headsculpt is too cartoony for my taste as well. But everything else is exactly what I've been looking for.

I was originally going to get the deluxe version for the horse, but may consider the Mr. Z horse models now that you mentioned it. My concern is that if I went with a different company's horse, the accessories that come with it would not work with this figure. I also see that this horse does not have as much detail and the life-like hair that that Z models have. But aside from that, do you have any recommendations on a realistic horse with more bags/gear on the saddle? I am looking for more of an Asian aesthetic fyi. If you know of any recommendations, please do share. Thank you!

Edit: Still not able to locate any U.S. vendors that has it for pre-order. I may order direct from China/HK if that is the case, I suspect it may also be quicker and safer since the package does not need to travel to the U.S. distributor - > vendor - then to me. Does anyone have experience buying direct from China/HK? Any custom confiscating issues? I heard sometimes they confiscate the swords/weapons? Any issues with damaged products? Please share your experience from buying overseas to the U.S. Also open to knowing what are everyone's top choices for ordering from the U.S. as well! Thanks!

Since I'm located in the UK I cannot advise you about US sellers or about importing figures there, but I second GF's recommendations of OneSixthKit and GianToy. If you have concerns about items being confiscated, you could even send them an email and ask them what their policies are on that, if it would help to ease your mind. Both stores have pretty good communication, in my experience.

Regarding a different horse with more Asian aesthetic gear, there is a Mr.Z 'Mongol horse', which is unfortunately now only available in the action pose, and there *was* also a horse offered by Mr.Z a while ago called the 'Ili horse' or 'Yili horse' depending on how it was spelled, but unfortunately it sold out earlier this year. I have occasionally seen people offering the saddle and bridle from that horse separately on ebay, but I just checked and don't see any at present. I'm actually still searching for this horse as I was gutted to have missed out on it myself, and if I find any leads on it, I'll let you know. : )

That being said, the Mr.Z Yili was a probably a little bit too tall for the actual horse breed and did not come in a pure black colour, so I think the black Hanoverian is still probably your best option as a more realistic-looking alternative to this one.

If I were going about this, I would probably try to create or kitbash my own tack -- this is what I'm currently doing for the Mr.Z Shire horse, as the tack it came with is not suitable for what I wanted to use it with, either.

Of course, creating custom gear and accessories is not for everyone, but just mentioning that it is 'doable'.

_________________

"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."

Focusing on the Prequels, Clone Wars, and Original Trilogy eras (NO 'sequels', thanks!)

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will just go with the Black Star "the one that comes with Dao Ma" as the aesthetics tie in together with the figure better. I read through the Chinese forums and they say the horse isn't too different than Mr. Z's (Z is still better though but not by a whole lot).

The horse isn't articulated, some of the statements are definitely lost in translation.

Planning to order from Monkey Depot but will use GianToy as a backup if the former is too expensive when they put it up (was told they will have it up next week).

PS, btw, I noticed the meta keywords for this product was labeled as Japanese, but it's actually Chinese.